Twenty Words
by Military Mechanic
Summary: No matter who it is or what the thought, every word has a certain memory attached to it. A certain moment in time, forever frozen in place, forever brought up by that single noise. For Usopp, there are many scenes like this. What we have here? It's twenty of them.


A/N: so, this is a self-imposed challenge of mine. i often do them to get further into the head of a character, as well as to spread my personal head-canons to the rest of you lovely folks. so, this time around, i used a random word generator to give my my twenty words. for each word, i was only allowed to write one sentence. so, yes, i know that these are _all_ run-on sentences. i just don't care.

as always, i would love to know what you all think. i'm constantly trying to improve and, as such, critique is much needed.

enjoy!

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1. Book - It's always with him, his notebook, kept either tucked under an arm or safe in his shoulder bag - because it is his life and his memories and everything all at once.

2. Cool - _Don't flinch,_ Usopp tells himself; _don't slouch_, he thinks; _play it cool_, he tries to say, and then he pushes the door open and demands for the Frankies to return his money.

3. Cold - The frost bites at his skin, digging into the bare flesh of his arms and legs, stinging at his eyes and making him not-quite-blind...and, as he trecks through this barren wasteland, Usopp realizes that he has never been this cold before.

4. Young - They consider him to be young, he knows, and in a way they are right - but, in another, one filled with days stealing food to survive and burying his mother on his own, they are so very, very wrong.

5. Wrong - _This is wrong,_ Usopp thinks, _loving him like I do_ - because aren't they nakama, family, friends?

6. Gentle - Sometimes, Sanji will surprise Usopp - going from clashing with Zolo and red-faced, to giving him a gentle smile and asking him what he _wants dinner to be_?

7. Last - As the Marines close in around him, with their swords drawn and their guns aimed, Usopp realizes something - something that he should have realized long ago; that this fight is the last one he will ever be in.

8. One - He is just one man in a sea of thousand, millions, billions - yet Sanji still loves him and Usopp cannot figure out why.

9. Thousand - Usopp's heart pounds in his chest, hard and fast and furious, and it feels like he is being struck with a hammer over and over again, thousands of times, all in a row - yet he cannot falter, not now.

10. King - One day, Luffy will be king, Zolo will be grand, Sanji will have discovered a new ocean, and Nami and Robin and Chopper and Brook and Franky will all be famous; one day, Usopp knows they will all capture their dreams.

11. Friendship - It starts out tentative, this strange friendship of theirs, because to begin with Usopp can only see cold eyes and an even colder smile when he looks at Franky.

12. Fight - This is it, Usopp decides, struggling to get to his feet; breathing hurts and speaking hurts and _living_ burns like nothing he has ever felt before, but this is the day that he fights back and there is nothing here to change his mind.

13. Group - They may have their differences, a lot of them, actually, but that doesn't mean anything - at the end of the day, no matter what happens or whose secret is revealed, they are always a tighter-knit group by the end.

14. Bruise - Dark blue and purple, black and just a hint of red, the slightest tinge of yellow as the sun tries to force itself to be seen through the cloud; often the sky seems to reflect Usopp's feelings and now, in the wake of a harsh battle, he can see it reflecting his own bruises.

15. Regret - There are many things in life that Usopp regrets, things such as letting his father leave, letting Merry die, and not being stronger faster - but what he regrets more than anything is that, instead of being at his side, Sanji is standing by Nami's.

16. Aim - Though at times his body and mind might waver, both from exhaustion and pain, there is one thing that will always be steady - and that is Usopp's aim, as he draws back the rubber of his kabuto and fires.

17. Liar - Yes, he's a liar and he knows that, they know that, everyone knows that - what they don't know is that he's also _more_ than that, he's a weaver of worlds never seen, a master at escaping to the unreal, and almost perfect at bringing others there with him.

18. Mushrooms - His crew doesn't often notice that Usopp picks all of the mushrooms from his meals, and when they can't be picked out, he finds someway to _not_ eat them - but Sanji, being the chef, notices and, after demanding a reason, begins to leave them from the sniper's plates.

19. Family - They're family, and that's the only reason Usopp is looking for Yasopp - not to be reunited, but to give his father the curtusy of knowing that his wife is dead; and that it was his eight year-old son to lower her into the ground.

20. Spiders - It's odd to think that something so small can terrify the blond chef in a way like this; but they do and, as no one else knows, Usopp is always the one called into the kitchen when a spider is found.


End file.
